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The report by Tribeca Lawsuit Loans looks at U.S. District
Courts data to determine which states have the most cases filed
per 100,000 people from March 2022 to March 2023.
“There’s a spectrum of reasons for a court case to be filed,
ranging all the way to settling finances to serious crime.
Therefore, it’s interesting that certain states with similar
characteristics are filing so many more, especially when several
states in the top ten neighbor each other," said Tribeca Lawsuit
Loans CEO Rory Donadio. "Florida is miles away in filing cases
than any other state, and even the Florida courts website
attracts more than 300,000 visitors a month.”
Illinois finished fifth on the list with 102 court cases filed
per 100,000 people, totaling 13,130 case filings for a
population of 12,812,508.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said the ranking results from a
legal system in Illinois that values trial lawyers over
litigants.
"What's driving the ranking for the high number of filings in
any state is the fact that we have an unfair system within our
state. It is geared towards the trial lawyers," Ugaste told The
Center Square. "It has been designed that way, and unfortunately
for years, bills have been passed that allow the trial lawyers
to take advantage of the system, rather than having a fair
playing system."
This issue of Illinois' litigious environment is also affecting
the state's reputation.
"It is doing great damage to our business community," Ugaste
said. "Businesses know where this happens, and they do not want
to locate where they are constantly going to be sued and accrue
extra costs."
Earlier this summer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation
allowing for punitive damages in wrongful death cases. Ugaste
said such measures could cause companies to declare bankruptcy.
Florida finished first on Tribeca's list, with Louisiana,
Delaware and New York following in that order. No other
Midwestern state cracked the top ten.
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